Vlanor
by Tanen
Summary: On the planet Vlanor the Blood Ravens find themselves overrun by the forces of Necron. Now, with safty a long way off, they turn to the only ally in sight. The Eldar. Ch. 2 finally up.
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: Obviously I do not own Warhammer 40k or anything related to Games Workshop.**

**Author's note: This is the first Fanfic I will be posting so R&R so I know what's wrong!**

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_Planet Vlanor _

_Hellebore Pass_

_0137 Hours, Imperial Standard_

Chaplin Jalther surveyed the battle before him as Eldar forces retreated towards their doom at the end of the pass. His scouts had confirmed that the Necron menace had herded the Xenos into the small pass, where their main force waited in a pincer, and all there was to do was to close the trap. The Eldar seemed oblivious to this factor as they ran. The Xenos fought galanty, but it would be in vain. It looked as though they only had a few handfuls of squads left, compared to the numberless Necron.

The Chaplin looked at his own forces, beaten and degraded. All of his fellow battle brothers were standing, as though to prove their faith and willingness to keep fighting. For the past month, the forces of the Blood Ravens had been avoiding the countless Necron patrols that swept the landscape. It was not forty hours earlier that they had first marched from their tombs, unholy precision in their steps. Their lifeless eyes came from the tunnels that had been just outside the bases perimeter, gauss weaponry scattering the molecules of his battle brothers, their armor of faith and plasteel no use.

Although they fought bravely, in the end they were forced to retreat. The Blood Raven's now carried the sacred gene-seed of the fallen. The small force, mostly standard Space Marines, had only a few heavy weapons scattered here and there, and half a dozen or so of heavy bolters.

Not hours before, the Blood Ravens had swept the tunnels, destroying the dormant machines, sector by sector, floor by floor. When they were finished, no Necron remained, only their enormous structures still stood. Techpriests and Servitors insisted that now that the threat was gone, they could study the ruins. A few hours before the assault, several teams in the tunnel started losing contact. This was not uncommon, as the tunnels stretched hundreds of kilometers below the planet. An hour later, all teams were no longer responding. This worried the Blood Raven's Commander, and a fully equipped squad was sent down to locate the teams. The squad never returned. Just as they entered the tunnels, there were shrieks of pain and prayers to the Emperor, then silence. Moments later the Necron came. They struck hard and fast, stunning the Marines with this new tactic and quickly overwhelming the Marines.

Tired, demoralized, and beaten, what was left of the Blood Ravens were now headed for the nearest spaceport. The only spaceport still operational was several hundred kilometers away. Normally, they could reach the port well within a week, but due to the Necron patrols and difficult terrain, it would take longer.

The Necron had apparently struck the entire planet at once, emerging as they had at the Blood Ravens' main stronghold. Normally, the Necron would slowly wake its main force, taking weeks or even months to become fully operational. Instead, Destroyers had rushed from the tunnel entrances, cutting down infantry and rushing past any other defenses. Immortals would follow, taking down armor and stationary targets, before the Marines could react. Last, the Warriors would march out in rows, slowly spreading out and slaughtering the survivors. By that time the Destroyers would have razed the vox arrays to the ground, making organization extremely difficult, and reinforcements even more unlikely. Then they would march along and kill everything in their path. But now was time to take the initiative.

"Brother Klen," Jalther said, motioning him forward.

Klen was Jalther's most trusted Marine. They had served together on several campaigns, and saved each other's lives more often than not. The warrior of the Emperor looked like a standard marine, though, to anyone else, he was as intimidating as all his brethren were. Standing at seven feet without armor, and seven and a half with, he was a force to be reckoned with. At his side he carried a bolter, his most trusted weapon. A chainsword hung on his back, strap loose and ready for battle. His armor was red on black, the Blood Raven's emblem clearly on his breastplate and shoulder pad. Like everyone else's, his armor was also scorched and torn by the recent battles.

Klen crouched next to the Chaplin and Jalther waited as he adjusted his sight and focused in on the battle below. Although the Necron's were slowly taking ground, it came at the cost of many of their warriors. But for every Necron down, its corpse would vanish in green light and more would take its place, a sure sign that their teleportation systems were operational.

"Yes Chaplin?" Klen asked as he continued to watch the battle unfold.

"You see those Necron at the end of the pass?" Jalther said, and Klen nodded. "They will no doubt finish the Xenos off. Agreed?" Another nod. "I've been thinking, and I believe we should assist the Eldar."

That left Klen stunned. He said nothing for several minutes.

Finally, Klen said, "Chaplin, they are the xenos, and do not deserve any fate but the one waiting for them!"

Jalther was glad he had linked his vox to the private link, or this would be very hard to explain to the rest of the Marines when even Klen was against it.

"Think, Klen. We're both armies on the same world, slaughtered by the unholy ones, and being weeded out. We carry the gene-seed of dozens of warriors, and their loss will deal a blow to the entire chapter. We must choose whether to die in vain for the Emperor, or live to fight another day."

Indeed the Eldar had also taken heavy loses. The two forces had been battling one another before the Necron had arrived, but ever since they had come the Eldar and the Blood Ravens had ignored one another. He had heard scattered reports on small Eldar forces attempting to retreat to, well, wherever Eldar retreated to.

"It doesn't matter Jalther," Klen argued. "Burn the Heretic, kill the mutant, purge the unclean. That is our oath, and we will follow it to deaths end. And beyond."

Jalther knew how to work around that, how to manipulate him, and did so, "And we will purge them. Once we reach the port."

Behind his helmet, Klen looked unsure. "Go on."

Jalther hated doing this to another battle brother, but they were desperate, and they needed to preserve the sacred gene-seed by any means possible. Without that, the Chapter would surely begin to falter.

"The Xenos only need remain as our allies until we reach the spaceport, Klen. Once we reach there, we can easily turn and shoot them ourselves, then evacuate with the rest of our forces. Then we bombard the planet from orbit until it has less life then a Tyranid's barren world."

Jalthers words seemed to ease Klen and he nodded slowly. "In that case, I will inform our brethren."

With that he got up, turned and headed for the rest of the Marines. The Chaplin refocused on the battle as Klen started his motivational speech, praising the Emperor for this day and the glory they shall receive. He really had no intention on killing the xenos unless he thought they deserved it. Though a dedicated servant of the Emperor, he was also an honorable Marine, and the Eldar and Marines both had a common foe. Beyond that, they both needed to retreat from the countless unholy ones. When it was all added up it was the best coarse of action.

He hoped.

"Emperor be with us," he said, and turned to ready himself for battle.


	2. Reinforcements

_Planet Vlanor_

_Hellebore Pass_

_0150 Hours, Imperial Standard_

Warlock Yannar ran fired his shuriken pistol into the approaching necrons as he retreated. Guardians all around him were doing likewise, firing briefly before pulling back. He took precious seconds to lob a plasma grenade at a group of necron warriors who were getting to close, the explosion engulfing the them in the half liquid blast of destruction. Nothing remained of that group, but despite the necron losses, they came on. The eldar took loses of their own. Guardians would be hit by gauss weaponry, or flayed alive by the enemy. Someone would make a fatal mistake, others just got unlucky.

But the tide of battle was soon to be turned. Two fully equipped squads of Warp Spiders would be flanking the necron in a few more minutes, buying enough time for him and his men to safely reach the end of the Pass. But only if he survived long enough for the Spiders to help. The necron, unlike themselves, had no need to remain behind cover. Their thick armor plates able to stand up to everything but the most well aimed of shots.

Just before another fallback order was given, a thought cut through the Warlocks own, and he crouched behind cover to pay attention. _This is Warlock Yannar, message was not clear, repeat transmission,_ he thought out into the void of minds as the ripping sound of the necron gauss cannons seemed to fill the entire pass. He was only half sure of what he was getting, and needed to 'listen' for the message to repeat a few times before he could understand it.

_. . .Warp. .ider . Exarch. . . .ambush . . ecron . . of . . pass . . . no . . forcement . . arriving . . . . ._

_Warlock to Exarch, repeat,_ Yannar sent again. But only silence responded. If he got the message right, they had been ambushed, and killed before reaching the pass. Not a good sign for them at all. It was now or never. Quickly gathering his thoughts, he sent them to his fellows. _All forces, this is Warlock Yannar, reinforcements have been destroyed, commence full retreat to the edge of the pass. Dragons, distract the necron as we make our escape, the fall in with us. If we move fast enough we can get the Hellbore Webway without losing to many. Now, move!_

The effects were immediate. After a few more shots, the Guardian squads each took their time to empty the last of their grenades and any other explosives they had on the necron, then started back for the end of the pass. His people might not be able to match some of the other races by being able to run for days at a time or other extraordinary feats, but their physiology was good enough to make them quick and agile when they needed to be. But even as some ran, others held their ground, mostly the Fire Dragons. These aspect warriors, armed with fusion guns, ripped apart the left side of the pass, sending several tons of rock down onto the enemy necron. When the smoke cleared, a small barricade of rubble now blocked the path between the two forces.

"Everyone, full retreat!" Came a shout from somewhere behind Yannar. By that point, there was no point in keeping a defensive line. Though the rubble seemed formidable, it would take only minutes for the pursuing necron to remove the obstruction. But the end of the pass was near, and once the small webway was reached, they could evacuate.

Ahead a guardian was thrown back several feet, away from the passes end. Cold dread formed in Yannar as he looked closely towards the end of the pass. There, marching steadily towards them, another necron force. This one had less numbers then the last, but the surprise they created was enough to ensure minimal reaction for several precious seconds.

They came on, a slow death waiting for them. _Take cover! Divide yourselves between the two groups, Hurry!_ He thought, sending his them to the other eldar. They followed his orders precisely, but already the necron were close enough for close combat to begin. Flayers tore through guardians, skinning them alive and donning their new skin with unnatural speed. His men, now only half of what they had, were now coming to a rough knot of resistance.

_This is the end_, he thought to himself. He had failed his men. The pass had been a risk, and now they would pay for it. He was just about to order a charge, with the dwindling hope that they could break through, when someone cut into his thoughts with their own.

_Look to the ridge!_

Several guardians and even a few Dire Avengers glanced up at an outline of a figure, silhouetted against the dropping sun. He stood a good eight feet tall, and was carrying a weapon Yannar had seen countless times in both research and battle. The figure raised his weapon and slashed at the ongoing battle with the necron. An uproar of cries started behind him, and dozens of equally impressive figures started sliding down the steep incline of the edge, weapons thundering in their hands.

The necron turned to meet this threat, and hit several of what could now be seen clearly as space marines. Only the most well aimed of the necron weapons penetrated the thick armor of the marines, and even then they carried on. The first ranks of space marine and necron met and their chainswords cut through the necron easily. Meanwhile the necron attempted to react to this new threat. Their ranks broke in attempt to reorganize and dozens fell as a result. From above, marines still on the ridge fired their heavy arms and krak missiles hit deep within the ranks of the necron.

In seconds the space marines had turned the tide of the battle in their favor. Powersword in hand, Yannar ordered a charge. Dire Avengers and Guardians alike broke cover with their races grace and speed.

It took only an hour or so to destroy the last of the necron completely and deactivate their repair capabilities. His troops had formed up and were awaiting his orders. The space marines had done the same thing, twenty feet away. Tension was now in the air. The two forces had not yet spoken to each other. Yannar could clearly see their Chaplin, purity seals adorning most of his armor. He knew they could tell he was the leader of his group, and both leaders walked forward, meeting in the middle. Yannar removed his helmet and stared at the marine, who was a good foot taller then him.

"What now?" Yannar asked.


End file.
